Observations and Experimentations
by StarsOfMystery
Summary: Jaylah isn't accustomed to certain aspects of human interactions. Looks like she's wanting to test the waters with an unsuspecting chief engineer. Oneshot Jaylah/Scotty


Disclaimer: I do not own anything, blah blah blah, you get the picture.

Author Notes: This just came to me while I was supposed to be getting ready for an exam and decided to write it out. I know it's never made apparent if Jaylah has fangs but I thought I'd add that to her character for the sake of possible future additions.

The Enterprise's chief engineer had no idea how he had found himself in this position. None of the day's events or any of the previous weeks would have prepared him for the particular place he was standing. Jaylah had him backed up to a door and was scrutinizing him with an intense stare filled with curiosity.

If the engineer had his wits about him in that moment he would have recalled an innocuous moment which happened a week prior that would explain the precarious predicament he currently found himself in.

One week prior.

Jaylah and Scotty were making their way to engineering for their daily duties. Kirk had pulled a few strings a year after the incident at Yorktown and was able to offer her a position as a cadet-in-training on the enterprise. Scotty knew how brilliant she was and had also recommended her for the position. However, he hadn't expected her to be carrying out her training directly under him at Kirk's request. She took on the position like a pro and since her schedule required that she and Scotty work together, it became a tradition of theirs to meet up every morning in the halls on their way to their stations. These walks rarely involved much chatter between the two. Jaylah's disposition didn't make her one for small talk so the conversations generally consisted of her quickly answering Scotty's "How are you today lassie" and discontinuing any further dialogue until they reached engineering where he would guide her through the workings of the Enterprise.

Scotty never minded her relatively quiet nature but he did pick up on a few of her habits over time. One thing that he noticed during their exchanges (or lack thereof) was the way her amber eyes were always darting from one thing to the next, specifically when observing the mannerisms of the crew. Every now and then she'd ask about a specific observations she'd made about crewmen interactions that she was not accustomed to, such as hand shaking, high fives, and other similar actions. He was always happy to oblige her with the information she sought as it seemed none of her friends from the academy (if she had any) had taken the time to explain these things. He wondered if she just hadn't bothered to ask anyone until now.

On one particular day during their walk, she asked about something she had seen many times before but had yet to bring up.

"Why does she do that?" Jaylah had stopped mid stride and it wasn't until she had asked the question that Scotty realized he was leaving her behind while she stared down an adjacent hall.

"Wha's tha?" He asked returning to see what she was observing so intently. Scotty felt his ears go red when he realized what she was looking at. Chekov was down the hall with his back against the doors to his quarters. A very bluish, purple cadet was, quite thoroughly, kissing him right out in the hall. Feeling uncomfortable with such an open display of affection, Scotty cleared his throat before answering. "Oh… well… come on lassie" Scotty was quick to grab her arm and pull her away from the oblivious couple. "I'll tell you about it while we walk." Jaylah, confused by his actions, fell back into stride beside him before he continued rather awkwardly. "Is' ah… is' called kissing lass. There are plenty of species that use it as a means of expressing… certain emotions" Jaylah tilted her head to the side silently pondering his words. While rubbing the back of his neck to help with his unease at the topic he continued. "Is' often used as a way to show affection or comradery ya kno'." When Jaylah gave him a confused look he felt like he needed to explain further. He swallowed hard before continuing. "Well is'… is' how humans… and many other species, show that they are attracted to one another."

When she failed to say anything further he became curious. "Do your people no' show affection this way?" She gave him a stern side long look before promptly startling him by baring her fangs with a slight hiss in his direction. It almost brought him to a halt but she continued their trek before curtly explaining. "My people do not show affection in this way." And that was it. No more words on the topic were exchanged and they continued the day like nothing had happened but Scotty couldn't help the slight amount of curiosity at how exactly her species showed affection and why she had practically threatened him. Was she expressing that she wasn't comfortable with the topic or was she just making a point of why her fangs made kissing a less than desirable way for her people to show affection? He knew he'd be hard pressed to get an answer to such an intimate question and chose to drop the topic without giving it another thought.

A week later saw Jaylah and Scotty back at engineering following a particularly rough day. Kirk had just finished another one of his away missions that once again left the Enterprise a little worse for wear. The crew had worked tirelessly to repair the damage sustained after the planet's inhabitants had mistook one of Kirk's comments as a declaration of war and had sent some of their ships to take down the far more advance Enterprise. Very little damage was taken but a few lucky shots fried a few of the power cells maintaining life support which meant a full day for the engineers.

"Captain" Scotty radioed from his spot under the panel he was working on.  
"Good news Scotty?"  
"Aye, we have full power restored to our life support but I'd very much like t' know just what exactly you said t' piss off an entire race"  
"It's a long story but I'll fill you in later. Kirk out"

With that, Scotty moved to crawl out from under the panel but not before noticing a very recognizable pair of boots standing nearby. By now he'd decided to stop trying to tell her to change into her proper uniform footwear as she would only start wearing the boots again a few days later. Plus, he really didn't mind.

"Montgomery Scotty" He heard her voice call down to him. No matter how many times he asked her to just call him Scotty, she seemed as determined about keeping the name as she was the boots.  
"Aye, give me a moment." He slid himself out from under the panel and dusted himself off after standing. "Do ya need something lassie?"

His breath hitched when he realized that as he had moved to stand he had brought himself much closer to Jaylah than what might be considered appropriate. She wasn't one to enter a person's personal space and generally preferred people to stay out of hers, so the proximity immediately set off warning bells in his brain causing him to reflexively pull back towards the panel he'd previously been under. What set off even more warnings was the fact that she made no move to step out of his personal space but rather to lean forward looking confused. He didn't know what created his initial reaction to her closeness but he knew whatever it was didn't bode well for him. Her bright eyes, ever observant seemed to be examining his reaction. His heart rate elevated and his face began turning red before he was able to recover by stepping away, clearing his throat, and offer a mumbled apology.

"Sorry, um, what can I do for you?" Her golden eyes finally shifted away from him, down to the panel and he felt himself let out a breath he didn't realized he'd been holding.  
"Is the last power cell fixed?" She indicated toward the panel.  
"Aye, we're all done for the evening." He tried to steady his voice."The rest of the repair crew finished up an hour ago so we can all rest easy for now." Although Scotty wasn't one to get claustrophobic, the area they were working in was tucked away down a small corridor below main engineering and he felt like the space was getting a bit too small for comfort. He needed some air and the young woman's earlier proximity was making coherent thought a little hazy. Jaylah also seemed out of sorts, looking around as if contemplating something and this put him on edge even more so as she rarely showed any hesitation in her actions but always worked with complete confidence. She was a strong presence whenever around him, or anyone else for that matter, but when she wasn't acting like herself it brought to his mind the thought of working with an alien explosive device. Unfamiliar and dangerous.

"Well we best be… getting on," he commented before turning towards the door leading out of the tight space.

"Montgomery Scotty?" Despite the question in her voice it came across as a command that startled the man. She hadn't used a tone like that with him since they met on Altamid. He slowly turned trying to decipher just what had gotten into Jaylah. She was staring down at the floor obviously deep in thought.

"Is everything alright lassie?" Her eyes shot up at his question and he knew something had clicked in her mind from the determined look she was now giving him.

"I want to try kissing"

Of all the things that he was expecting her to say, THAT most definitely wasn't one of them. The room suddenly felt a few degrees warmer and he could feel the heat rising to his ears. Of course, he had noticed just how incredibly stunning she was but from the moment she stepped onto the Enterprise as one of her crew he had placed the beautiful woman into the category of being off limits. Apparently, she hadn't received the memo.

"Wha?" Was all he could get out before she began walking a straight line towards him. He instinctively felt his feet take a few steps back "Now lassie, I don't think this is a good—," his words stopped abruptly as he felt his back hit the door. As he turned back from trying to discover what had stopped his escape, he felt his stomach drop as apparently Jaylah had made quick work of the distance between them. Her amber eyes were now staring up at him with slightly curious glances, her face mere inches from his. Whether she wondered at his reaction, or at the prospect of her earlier statement he didn't know. All he knew was at that moment she had him cornered and the sweet scent of her hair was clouding his already addled brain. He could feel her warm breath ghosting across his lips and it sent shivers down his spine.

"I want to try" she quietly spoke with a resolute tone. Before Scotty could even register her words, he felt the soft press of her lips against his and all thought was gone. Her feather light kiss was sending electricity through him and he felt like there were fireworks going off behind his closed eyes. He willed his hands to stay by his sides against the door behind him so as not to encourage this any further. Soon he felt Jaylah becoming more confident in her actions and this sobered him up enough to pull away for just a few moments to softly gasp a few words between increasingly passionate kisses.

"I don' think that we should—" her hand slipped behind his neck.  
"I think you've enough information to—" another hand slipped into his hair.  
"Lassie, I canno' promise—" a slight purr from her.  
"Oh bloody hell Jaylah" He breathed out before finally deciding to let her have her way.

He brought his arms around her lithe frame and realized just how small she was compared to him. Her kisses were beginning to make his head spin and he let out a small gasp as he felt her tongue begin to slide along his lower lip. This must have given her the encouragement she needed because before he knew it she was gliding her tongue along his, eliciting a small moan from him. He felt an ache inside himself that he hadn't felt in years. He wanted this woman more than he had yet realized. Her soft lips, the scent of her hair, the small purring sound beneath her breath; since when did Jaylah purr? Everything about her he was keenly aware of and yet he was completely oblivious to the rest of his surroundings.

His hands began to thread through her silken hair and he was unable to recall ever touching something so soft. She continued to cross into new territory and took a small bite at his lip. This caused a slight amount of pain for him as her fangs had quite the edge to them but also served to increase his arousal. It was only after she could taste the small amount of blood from her initial bite that she began to pull away.

The engineer could hardly tell which way was up or down at this point and once she had pulled completely away he wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. He'd barely caught his breath before he heard her speak to him.

"Thank you, Montgomery Scotty" Her stance was nervous and she only quickly met his eyes before looking back at the floor. Before he could even respond Jaylah had continued through the door he had been pinned to earlier leaving a shell-shocked Scotty in her wake. The only words he could get out came a few seconds after the doors had once again closed.

"Wha' the bloody hell was tha'?"

 **So what did you think? This will probably just be a oneshot but I'm slightly tempted to create another chapter detailing how her species shows affection. It depends if the muse strikes again with this particular ship. I'm honestly surprised that more stories haven't been written about this couple but I am open to suggestions for oneshot ideas regarding this ship (nothing too OOC).**


End file.
